Cicadas and Gulls
by RainbowAnatomy
Summary: "Thoughts are like pearls, and flags are unfurled..." - 'Cicadas and Gulls', Feist.


**A/N:** The world needs more indulgent Shalex fluff. I will be the crusader who provides.

 **Disclaimer: IF I OWNED IT, YOU'D KNOW IT**

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 ** _~*~Cicadas and Gulls~*~_**

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Shelby Wyatt traced the muscles that tensed and shifted beneath Alex Parrish's velvet skin. Her heart was tight within her ribcage, squeezing out an unsteady pulse as her fingers trailed along Alex's spine, swirling in the dimples at its base. Their skin stick together with sweat and salted tears, Shelby sitting with her back pressed against the headboard, Alex's head resting on her thigh, arm over her hips, fast asleep. Their bare legs tangled together under the linen sheet. Outside, the sky was seeking out the faintest spill of light, pink and orange creeping up from the horizon. Early dawn rain knocked against the window cill, a pattern so similar to the one in her chest. She had stayed awake, guarding over the silent roar of their heartbeats fumbling together.

She ran her fingers along Alex's biceps, her forearms, squeezed each of her red-manicured fingers. Alex shifted in her sleep, hand taking hand and holding on tight. Shelby froze. If she moved, even just a little, perhaps the whole thing would fade to grey, and their hearts would no longer drum the same song. Alex snuggled tighter against her skin; she could still feel where their climaxes had left them both sticky, had left them both breathless, had left them both a little more in love. There was something so innate in the scene, as if she had been born to sit in this small bedroom, with this woman on her lap.

When she was younger, she had her own garden which resided atop a hill on her parents' large estate. Birds, sparrows mostly, sometimes finches, ate periodically from the feeders she strung along the fence post like Christmas lights. Rows of nameless seeds, harvested as gifts from her parents, lay dormant in the resistant earth. She could watch the world go on from her little garden on that hill, eyes upturned on the sky, praying one day she would grow up to be someone somebody would love. When it rained on that hill, she knew it was a gift. Nature was so beautiful.

Alex was a gift delivered in crisp clothes, sculpted make up, too-bright smile. Then, she had dissolved into tears. Shelby wiped away that mascara. She kissed the lipstick and fake smile off those upturned lips. She wrinkled and ripped those clothes. She unwrapped Alex like it was Christmas, digging her nails into that creamy skin, scratches blooming like flowers, matching the flush that gathered on her own pale cheeks. She planted kisses where her lips touched, neat rows germinating as Alex writhed beneath her grip. She cultivated hickeys where her mouth sucked, and Alex produced the most breathtaking moans she had ever harvested.

Alex was a garden that no one had discovered. Not so intensely, not so wholly. Finding her, feeling her, fucking her, it returned Shelby to that little garden atop that hill. She stared up into Alex's eyes, deep, expansive, unfurling like they held the entire sky inside the inky brown irises. She held her so tight against her chest, waiting for the nervous tears to dry up so she could confess her nervous words right back, whisper the phrase across those trembling lips she craved the moment she saw them. And when she divulged, she reaped the sound of her name growing from those trembling lips.

Outside, the rain was coming down harder now. Shelby tightened the sleepy grip Alex had on her hand, running her free fingers across Alex's cheek. The woman shifted again, brown eyes blinking open leisurely, meeting her own. A smile blossomed across steady lips, curling back to form her name.

 _"Shelby,"_ Alex sighed across her thigh, breath billowing against her belly button, _"Good morning."_

 _"Good morning, Alex,"_ Shelby murmured back, her voice breaking.

 _"I am so sorry I waited this long."_

 _"It's ok. The best things in life need time to grow."_

Alex chuckled, a drowsy laugh with her eyelids still drooping, as she pushed herself up to come to a straddle in Shelby's lap, looking down at her. Shelby stared up into Alex's eyes, imagining the grass beneath her spine, tulip buds between her fingers, the promise of tomorrow in her heart.

 _"Did I mention last night that I love you?"_ Alex whispered, leaning in so their lips just brushed against each other.

 _"Yes… But maybe one more time for good measure?"_ Shelby returned, sliding her hands up Alex's back, memorizing each muscle's life as she came to rest them behind her neck.

 _"I love you."_ Alex planted a kiss on her forehead. _"I love you."_ Alex planted a kiss on her nose. _"I love you."_ Alex planted a kiss on her parted lips, tugging her closer as her fingers threaded into Shelby's hair.

When they broke apart, breath shallow, eyes open, Shelby smiled, promising,

 _"I love you, too."_

And so, Alex Parrish became Shelby Wyatt's garden.


End file.
